Claes Bell, a banking analyst at Bankrate, calls this finding “particularly troubling” since youth is on your side when it comes to the stock market. “The nice thing about it is any money that you put in [now] will have so much time to grow,” said Bell.

As the most financially strapped generation of college students to date, we could all benefit from becoming savvy investors. So what’s standing in our way?

A New Financial Generation

Millennials aren’t involved in the stock market simply because they don’t want to be. When asked why they weren’t investing, 38 percent of 18 to 30-year-olds cited a lack of education as the culprit.

“[This is] indicative of the financial education issue we have in the United States. People aren’t coming into their careers in their earning years with the practical knowledge to invest,” explains Bell.

Millennials also cite a lack of funds as a prominent hindrance. A whopping 42 percent of respondents under the age of 30 said they simply don’t have enough money to invest in the stock market. Graduating in the wake of the recession with student loan debt and a lack of job prospects hasn’t exactly created a hospitable environment for financial responsibility. You’d think finance experts would’ve realized this by now.

Our Take

This news comes on the heels of another concerning report about the financial attitudes of millennials. Termed “financial contentment,” many college students today place less emphasis on material possessions and are generally less concerned with personal finance than their predecessors. This Bankrate report also fits that bill.

In short, the Great Recession, student loan debt, helicopter parenting and a lack of financial education have combined to create a troubling paradox: the heavily indebted, apathetic and underemployed college graduate doesn’t have the faintest idea as to how to dig themselves out of their financial grave.